Art has always been with me. The first thing I wanted to be was an artist. I spent weekend mornings drawing the hot air balloons floating outside our house, and used my grandma's oil paints on cardboard for lovely pictures of squirrels and trees. Mixed media grabbed me early on. I made butterflies using the petals of tulips and poppies, and painted rocks into treasures with my watercolors. I took a detour to explore other possibilities in college, but art never left me. I suppose I should have gone to art school, but I always knew that art would be there when I needed it.

I fine tuned my current style over the last five years, but it stems from my early love of making art out of materials that are not considered tools for art. Sometimes I use these disposable materials to express disdain for my subject, sometimes I use them to expose beauty that is overlooked. I work on cardboard because of the secrets it offers me. I can peel away the layers of corrugation just like the layers of my subject's personality. I can look beneath the surface. The carton labels on the reverse of the cardboard can add commentary to the subject I create on the front. My use of tape is primarily an effort to elevate to beauty a material that is usually considered ugly, to turn the ordinary into extraordinary. Tape can mimic brush strokes, and I like my audience to look closer and want to touch the work to understand it.

My subjects are usually people that I know personally; I rarely inform my subjects that I have completed a portrait of them, because these portraits reflect sides of their personality as I perceive them, and are not always the most beautiful or flattering portrayals. On closer examination of my subject choices, I have realized that there are common threads among them. These are people who are creative in their own right, and who have inspired me to create in turn. At some level, these are people I am jealous of--they are involved in art or life in ways I am not. I portray them both to honor them, and to tear them down.

I also do a great deal of self-portraits, both representational and abstract. Most of these express self-doubt, and a dislike for myself or for my place in life. I have left finished self-portraits on the floor to be walked on, as a metaphor for the feelings of the piece. In many ways, these self-portraits are tools for survival, an effort to rid myself of the personal disdain I am prone to.

My jewelry is an outlet for me very different from mixed media. It gives me the opportunity to explore simply beauty, and take pleasure in a tedious, detail-oriented craft effort. Like my other work, I seek to use materials not commonly associate with jewelry making. Many of my pieces involve paper and nylon paillettes, and other materials with no intrinsic value. I also attempt to create unique ways of construction, so that simple chainwork can go beyond the usual. I want the piece to draw attention to the wearer, to speak to their personality.

Both aspects of my creations bring balance to my life. I hope that they both offer the viewer a glimpse of distinct portions of my personality.